Subaru Impreza Concept hints at sporty future for the brand: Full gallery

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the manufacturer of Subaru automobiles, unveiled the Impreza 5-Door Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show and it reveals where the brand is headed. Don’t expect the new-generation 2017 Subaru Impreza to look exactly like the concept car because it’s a design that is hinting at the design direction for the entire brands future lineup.

Subaru is stepping out and delivering on FHI’s “Prominence 2020” vision that will include a new Subaru Global Platform. Subaru will introduce a new modularized platform that will support every model from the Impreza compact to the new Crosstrek crossover. The new platform and new design language will make its debut in the next-generation 2017 Impreza that will launch in late 2016.

Subaru’s core values are all-wheel-drive, boxer engines and vehicles that are fun-to-drive. Subaru’s Impreza 5-Door Concept tells us sporty models will be a mainstay in the entire lineup in the future. The design of the new Impreza will filter down to the next-generation Outback, Forester, Crosstrek, WRX/STI and the new 7-passenger SUV that will launch in 2017 and be built at the U.S. plant in Indiana.

While FHI doesn’t reveal the drivetrain in the Impreza Concept, Subaru will also overhaul its powertrain technology, adding cylinder deactivation and lean combustion cycles by 2020, to meet more stringent emissions standards. Subaru has said they want engines “with thermal efficiency rates above 40 percent, which would top that of the engine in the Toyota Prius hybrid.”

The Impreza 5-Door Concept unveiled at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show is a design concept car previewing the next-generation Impreza and reveals the design language for Subaru’s next-generation lineup. It’s a sporty future for the brand that will filter down to the entire lineup. Stay tuned.